Corrected Blog: ‘Blessed Takayama Ukon – Born in Three Sites?’

Corrected Blog: ‘Blessed Takayama Ukon – Born in Three Sites?’

The celebrated samurai, born in Toyono-cho, Osaka Prefecture, is recognized as a Christian of heroic virtue.

►As Japanese church historians record it, TAKAYAMA Hikogorō (彦五郎) – (better known as Justo Takayama Ukon (高山右近) – 1552-1615) was born in 1552 in Takayama village, in Toyono-cho, Toyono-gun, Osaka Prefecture.

This is the conclusion of a Historical Commission appointed in 1963 by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan (CBCJ), headed by Sophia University’s Fr. Hubert Cieslik, SJ (1914-1988) to study the life and times of Takayama. Fr. Cieslik specialized in early Japanese mission history.

Indeed, the grave of Ukon’s mother — Maria Takayama — wife of Takayama Tomoteru (高山友照), later known as Darius Zusho Takayama, is located here, where it is a tourist attraction to this day. Maria Takayama was the mother of three sons, the eldest being Justus (and thus heir), and three daughters. Maria had joined Ukon during his 27-year domestic exile in Kanazawa which began in 1587, but when she died in 1596, the Takayama family chose to bury her in the ancestral village of Takayama in Toyono-cho, Osaka Prefecture. (That’s an acknowledgement by the Takayama family themselves that Toyono-cho, Osaka Prefecture was their hometown.)

►SECOND CLAIMANT: Sawa Castle in Haibara-cho, Nara Prefecture. In this claim, Ukon was born at Sawa fortress, stronghold held by Ukon’s father, Takayama Tomoteru (1531–1596), a samurai in the service of the Daimyo Matsunaga Hisahide (松永 久秀), 1508–1577, in Yamato Province (today in Haibara-cho, Nara Prefecture).

Father Frois (1532-1597), who was the second of eleven (11) contemporary Jesuits who reported on the life and times of Takayama Ukon while Ukon was still alive, is best remembered for writing “The First European Description of Japan,” 1585. (This was the earliest systematic comparison of Western and Japanese cultures.)

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Prayer for Blessed Takayama’s Intercession

The final condition for Ukon Takayama’s canonization is that miracles be obtained through his intercession.

Let us therefore address ourselves to our saintly brother and ask Divine Providence to grant us through his intercessions what is impossible to man, be it a miraculous cure or something else which God Almighty alone is able to do. Let us have great confidence in the powerful intercession of this distinguished Servant of God, who will not fail to reward the heroic deeds in His Service by granting us our request, even if it would call for a great miracle. Favors obtained through Blessed Ukon Takayama’s intercession should be reported to the Bishop of your diocese so as to be presented to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The following prayer may properly serve the purpose and ought to be addressed to the Lord by as many as possible, whenever human means fail to help us in our needs.

PRAYER

God, in Your Wonderful Providence, You have chosen Justus Ukon Takayama to be a singular promoter of Your Kingdom, and an undaunted witness to the Catholic Faith -- Reward, we beseech you, his zeal for Your Glory, and graciously grant us what we humbly ask through his intervention.

Grant us also that following his example, we may bravely bear all trials for the sake of our holy Catholic Faith. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

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LORD TAKAYAMA JUBILEE FOUNDATION

The LORD TAKAYAMA JUBILEE FOUNDATION was registered on September 29, 1988 by Filipino and Japanese history buffs to support Philippine research into the life and times of the illustrious Japanese feudal governor, Justus Ukon Takayama (1552-1615).